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Blaze took toll, but they count blessings

Campaign launched to help Fitchburg family

By Katina Caraganis , kcaraganis@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
06/26/2014 07:38:24 AM EDT

ESCAPED FLAMES: Herpao Yang shows the burns he suffered when he ran onto his family's porch to throw propane tanks from a window during a fire that ripped through his family's house on Edwards Street in Fitchburg in the early-morning hours last Thursday.
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / JOHN LOVE

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FITCHBURG -- Robert Yang will never forget the phone call he received in the early-morning hours last Thursday from his sisters, who said he needed to come to the family's home on Edwards Street immediately.

He knew it couldn't be good news.

"When I saw it was my sister, I knew it was an emergency. She couldn't even speak. I couldn't even understand what was going on. It's been really, really hectic," he said.

Four of his siblings are blind and some of them still live at home with their parents in the seven-bedroom home at 95 Edwards St.

One of his younger brothers woke up to go to the bathroom and get a drink of water, Yang said, when he saw the fire on the porch.

"He was able to wake up everyone in the house," Yang said.

Robert Yang, right, and his father, Herpao Yang, survey the damage to their home after last Thursday's blaze.
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / JOHN LOVE

Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.

"If he didn't wake up, it would have been a completely different story."

His father, Herpao, ran back into the home to remove propane tanks from the porch. He suffered burns to his hands, arms, head and neck, and was treated at HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster.

Robert Yang said his younger sister, Lia, wakes up a lot at night with anxiety because she thinks the home is on fire again.

"Lia is blind, so that's probably why. My mom's still shocked by everything too," he said.

The family has bought a trailer and put it in their front lawn to live in while renovations are done to the home.

"There's still smoke in the house and there's holes in the roof, so they won't be able to stay there for awhile.

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It's not totally burned down but burned enough that they can't stay there right now," he said.

A contractor doing the work for the family said the work could take anywhere from six months to a year to complete.

A cleaning company was brought in to clean what they could from the fire to return to the family, but some things weren't salvageable, he said.

"A lot of food went to waste," he said.

Many clothes were also sent out to a company to be cleaned, he added.

Herpao Yang suffered burns to his head, neck and legs when he ran onto the porch to throw out propane tanks during an early-morning blaze at his family's house on Edwards Street in Fitchburg last Thursday. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / JOHN LOVE

Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.

Fitchburg Fire Chief Kevin Roy said the fire-prevention unit has determined the blaze likely started in a portable grill that required propane tanks. The grill, which was used by the family the previous night, was left inside a room that was sectioned off from the rest of the house.

Roy said the grill likely didn't cool down completely before the family went to bed and there were still embers smoldering on the grill, which eventually ignited.

The fire is being ruled accidental.

An account has been created at Workers' Credit Union under the family's name by Wil Darcangelo.

Lia Yang, who graduated from Fitchburg High School this year, is a band member with Wil Darcangelo and the Tribe.

Robert Yang, second from left, joins family members outside the trailer they moved to the yard of their Edwards Street home in Fitchburg in the wake of last Thursday's blaze. With him, from left, are his son Sky, 12, his sister Lia, 19, his father Herpao, and his daughters Anastasia, 11, and Nevaeh Yang, 10.
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / JOHN LOVE

Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.

Yang said he couldn't be happier at what Darcangelo did for his family.

"We really appreciate it. We didn't imagine he would help us like that," he said.

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